


Silence

by ReenaCatheryn



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Ballet, F/M, Major Original Character(s), Multi
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2013-10-01
Updated: 2013-11-14
Packaged: 2017-12-28 04:30:37
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 5,201
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/987660
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ReenaCatheryn/pseuds/ReenaCatheryn
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Little Maggie Walsh was always silent. Cedric Diggory was the Golden Boy. She had always been there for him. And yet he had never known until her toes met the floor as his fingers met the ivory keys. A Cedric Love story! If you're a nice reader, I might not kill him off. Takes place in Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire. As always, author's notes are contained in each separate chapter. Please add it to your bookmarks so you can check back for updates!</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter One

**Author's Note: My love for Cedric knows no bounds. And I just didn't like he and Cho as a thing, so I gave him someone new. She's a bit unique, but I hope you like her. Please know, that she is not based on me AT ALL (other than us both being dancers, but she is far better than I would ever hope to be). So this definitely is not an "insert yourself" story. I pride myself on it's unique qualities. I have the rest of the story planned and several chapters written, but hope to space it out. Without further ado, please enjoy!**

* * *

 

She was always there, so why had he not seen her until now? He had seen her, he supposed. She was in his classes. But she never spoke. So he never heard. But she knew him. She knew him better than anyone else.

Cedric Diggory was many things. He was loved by his parents. He was popular. He was a good student. He followed rules. But Cedric Diggory had never been exceptionally observant. This he knew, and so he made up for it by trying to befriending some of the most observant and intelligent people he could. But his father had other plans. Cedric ended up being mates with some of the most ignorant and spoiled boys at Hogwarts. He was friends with Hufflepuffs and Ravenclaws alike, but sometimes he felt more like a Gryffindor. He would never tell his father that.

Amos Diggory was proud of his son. Good grades at Hogwarts, surrounded by friends and praised by teachers; yes, Cedric Diggory was the 'it' boy. But what Amos failed to realize that Cedric only did these things and acted this way to please his father. Truly, he would rather be more of a musician. The piano was his passion, though he enjoyed many musical styles. He played secretly in the Room of Requirement, ever since he'd discovered it in his third year. He always remembered the day…

_With a sigh, he left the Hufflepuff common room. His friends were being idiots, as usual, and he had no desire to deal with their behavior. He wandered up to the third floor, and paced an empty corridor a few times, thinking about how much he desired a space to be alone and be himself. He was startled to look up and find a door where there most certainly hadn't been before. He glanced up and down the hallway quickly before dashing into the room, grateful for its presence. Inside he found a large room, lined with mirrors and horizontal, wooden bars. He blinked. It was a dance studio. Why would there be a dance studio here? For a moment, he thought he heard a small sneeze. He spun his head wildly, panicking that he was not alone. But after five silent minutes, he accepted that he was indeed alone in this strange room._

_It was then that he noticed the black, grand piano sitting in the corner. Cedric had never played an instrument before, but as he observed the massive object, he found himself drawn to it. He sat down gingerly and placed his hands on the smooth, ivory keys. He pressed a few down, ever so lightly, as a strange, new warmth filled his entire body. A smile spread involuntarily on his face as he mimicked the few pianists he had seen in his lifetime. He winced as the sounds he produced became less than desirable. But before he left that day, he vowed to learn more and return._

And Cedric had kept that promise. Four years later, in his seventh year, he was an excellent pianist. He was self taught and only played during the school year, because he was afraid of disappointing his father by admitting he did not want to be a Ministry employee when he graduated. Though the odd thing he noticed about the room was that eventually, the dance studio became smaller and smaller, as if the room was closing in on him. Finally, when there was just enough room to comfortably fit the piano and himself, the room stopped shrinking. Cedric didn't think much of it. At some point, he had asked Professor Dumbledore why the castle had been built with a dance studio. The Professor had been confused and agreed to meet him at the room. When he saw the door, Albus Dumbledore smiled.

"You are one of the lucky few, Mr. Diggory, to have discovered the Room of Requirement. It is a secret room that presents itself to anyone in need of it. It becomes whatever it needs to be. I stumbled across it once when I was in desperate need of a restroom and couldn't seem to find one," he explained. Cedric shook his head firmly.

"But sir," he interrupted. "I don't dance. I don't use the room to dance. I use it to play the piano," he blushed only slightly.

"Then perhaps, my dear boy, you are unknowingly sharing the space with someone else," he winked and walked back down the hall, leaving a very mystified and slightly spooked Cedric behind. He continued to listen quietly and search for a second person each time he entered the room, but all he ever caught was the sound of a small sob or a sharp intake of breath. Eventually he dismissed the thought, assuming the room must be host to a saddened and shy ghost.

But Cedric was wrong. He was sharing the room. In fact, he had invaded the room that had been used since his first year, by a quiet Ravenclaw. Magdalene Walsh had never been good at communicating with her peers, or people in general. She never spoke in class, and it even got to the point where most teachers believed her to be a mute. She was brilliant in her own silent way, but her lack of communication skills worried her parents from the very beginning. So they sent her off to ballet class at two years old, hoping to spark her interest and get her to form friendships. They were partially successful. Maggie, as most called her, became fascinated with anything and everything ballet. She had natural talent and soaked up knowledge and critique like a sponge.

When her parents had given her the letter from Hogwarts on her eleventh birthday, she had burst into tears. Confused, they had asked her what the problem was. She had somberly replied that she did not want to quit ballet for magic. They laughed and promised that she would not have to. And so on the second day of school, before classes had commenced, the young red-headed witch clutched her precious dance bag to her chest and began to wander the halls. It was that day that she had stumbled upon her own private dance studio: The Room of Requirement. For three years, she had the room all to herself. Each day, she would dutifully practice her dancing for at least an hour, working on homework at the same time. She would charm her quill to write what she dictated as she danced around.

On a particularly challenging homework day during her third year, Maggie sat down in the corner of the room, near the portrait of Mikhail Baryshnikov. She needed to focus on her Astronomy assignment for just a few minutes. Suddenly, a male figure burst into the room and looked around. Maggie froze, thinking she would be in trouble for using the room. But she recognized the boy as a boy from her own class; a Hufflepuff named Cedric Diggory. How he found her room or why he was there, she could only speculate. She prayed for a way out and suddenly noticed the small gap between the portrait and the wall. She opened it and thankfully, the portrait was silent. As she settled herself into the small room behind the portrait, she sneezed from all the dust. The portrait worked like a one way mirror. She could see Cedric, but he could not see her. Smiling to herself, she began to work once more on her homework.

"Thank you, Room," she whispered quietly.

And so began her daily routine. She began to know a part of Cedric Diggory that no one else knew. Almost every day, especially days off, he would come into the room about an hour and a half before curfew and play for an hour. Maggie enjoyed his playing immensely. She enjoyed listening to him improve. And sometimes she liked to pretend that they were friends. Eventually, the room adjusted to the two sharing in private, her side room (behind the portrait) became larger and had more room to dance, with mirrors on three of the walls. The fourth wall remained a one-way window into the main room. And the room Cedric played in became smaller. Maggie danced as Cedric played. But only Maggie knew.

So in their seventh year, Maggie knew she had to do something, say something to him. It was their final year at Hogwarts and Maggie had already been invited to audition for several ballets in Europe, though she was hoping to star in an American ballet company. Her parents were divorced, and had been since she was twelve. Her father stayed in Ireland, where she was from, though her mother moved to New York. Maggie liked the thought of being a Prima Ballerina in the American Ballet Theatre. And she knew, from what she heard around school that Cedric would be working at the Ministry of Magic. She was about to lose her only friend, and he didn't even know she existed.

"Cedric! Nice to see you mate, how was your holiday?" James, one of his closest classmates, clapped him on the back and sat next to him in the compartment.

"It was fine, and yours?" Cedric replied politely. In reality, his holiday had NOT been fine. He had tried to bring the subject of music up to his father, who had not taken it well. He had been grounded the majority of the summer for even trying to 'destroy' the plan. The only time his father had lightened up was when they attended the Quidditch World Cup, purely so that he could brag about Cedric to the Weasley family and anyone else who would listen. Cedric was annoyed at his father's behavior. And the Quidditch World Cup, though he got to briefly meet Harry Potter, was a disaster in its own. He was horrified at the treatment of the muggles, but he wouldn't say anything. It was not his place. Let Harry Potter or Arthur Weasley stand for the muggles. Cedric knew he was a Hufflepuff because of his lack of bravery to stand for what he thought was wrong. And he had accepted that.

"Alright, I suppose. Broke it off with Kelly, though. Turns out, she was horrible at snogging," he sneered in disgust and kept chattering away until a few other boys clamored into the compartment. They all exchanged generic greetings and began chatting wildly to each other about their final year at Hogwarts.

A small cough interrupted their chatter as they all looked up into a pair of deep green eyes, the color of emeralds. Suddenly, Magdalene lost all her courage. Her already pink face blushed violently red and her red curls bounced as she ran away. She had almost spoken to him, until he had given her that look of utter confusion. She scolded herself mentally for even trying before finding an empty compartment to sit in. She had nowhere else to go.

"Mental that one is," a fellow Hufflepuff named Henry chimed in.

"I'm sorry?" Cedric choked on his water.

"Magdalene Walsh. We've been in classes with her since first year and she's never spoken a word. Ever. I heard she's mute," James shrugged.

"I think she's just full of herself," Henry snorted.

"I think she's hot," Greg grinned.

"That's disgusting, Greg. You can't like a mental girl," James retorted. Cedric rolled his eyes and got up, muttering something about his Prefect duties.

"What's got his panties in a twist?" Henry glared at Cedric's retreating form.

Cedric ignored him and continued to the Prefects car, where he collected his new badge and met with the other Prefects for a quick meeting. He was assigned to the back of the train, making sure everyone was in compliance and reminding people to dress for the banquet. He started at the very back, running across Potter and his friends. He smiled politely, doing his job and moving on. In the very first compartment of the last car, he saw a bundle of robes, shaking lightly and facing the windows. Concerned, he let himself in the car. A face popped up out of the black robes, alarmed.

"Are you alright, miss?" he asked, sitting down across from her as he slid the door shut. The emerald eyes widened in return, as her mouth formed a perfect "o". He recognized the vibrant red hair and green eyes. This was the girl that had just approached their compartment. What had her name been? Magdalene. That was it.

"Magdalene?" he asked with a gentle smile. She nodded slightly, paralyzed with fear. "Do you mind if I sit here?" he gestured to the seat he had already taken. He could see very plainly that she wasn't going to speak. Whether or not she could, he didn't know, but he wanted to offer her comfort the only way he knew how: with kindness and companionship.

Ever-so-slowly, she shook her head and he sighed pleasantly, relaxing. His prefect duties were over with anyhow and he did not feel like returning to his friends. The ride was silent, but in a comfortable way. Maggie read a book as Cedric simply stared out the window or dozed off. Finally, nearing the end of the journey, Maggie looked up. Cedric smiled in return. He peaked at her book:  _Ballet through the Years_.

"Ballet, huh?" he grinned, thinking immediately of the dance studio but not making any connections. "I bet you make a wicked dancer," he commented. She blushed violently, though he did not miss the sparkle in her eyes at the mention of ballet. The train came to a stop.

"Well, I better go get my things. Maybe I'll see you at the Welcome Back Feast… or in class, who knows?" he gave a slight wave as he stood to leave. Realizing it was now or never, Maggie placed a small hand on his shoulder. She searched for words as he turned expectantly. She didn't use them often, but she wanted to use them right.

"Why?" she choked out. She did a mental face-palm. She was sure he wouldn't even understand what she meant; not to mention he would think she was an idiot. But Cedric surprised her. He smiled and shrugged.

"Why not?"


	2. Chapter 2

Cedric Diggory had spoken to her. He had sat through almost the entire Hogwarts Express ride with her. And he had even mentioned speaking to her again! Maggie didn’t know what to do with herself as she sat in a carriage with a few other Ravenclaws, headed for the Welcome Feast. For the first time in her seven years at Hogwarts, she was excited to be there. Training to be a witch was something her parents had insisted she do. She’d rather be taking ballet lessons with other girls that shared her passions. There, her silence wouldn’t be taken as insolence or haughtiness. There, girls would understand her determination because they all felt it as well. But she wanted to please her parents, and studying at Hogwarts wasn’t difficult for her. She had been born naturally intelligent, but she had forced a gracefulness and disciplined mindset upon herself for dance. The qualities combined made her the ideal Ravenclaw. She knew that. She spoke to no one in her house, though she always shared a kind smile with Cho Chang. Something about the girl had always been welcoming. 

That was, of course, until the previous year. Cho had begun to develop a small crush on Cedric. She ranted on about it to her other friends, all of them assuming Maggie could not spread anything around. For some reason, this made Magdalene extremely jealous. It took the entire year for her to reason that she had no claim on Cedric, nor did she have a right to keep him from other girls. She was not the girl from him. Nor did he even know that she existed. But all that changed when he had offered her his friendship. Cedric Diggory wanted to be her friend.

As she exited the carriage and entered the castle, Maggie smiled to herself and searched for the head of brown hair she longed to see. She found him after several minutes, sitting at the Hufflepuff table surrounded by a group of friends. He waved lightly before continuing his conversation. Maggie found herself a seat spread a little ways away from others and began quietly picking at a plate. She’d never been much of an eater. She was a short, slim girl with not much to speak of in the woman department, but that’s how she liked it. Because her tutus fit perfectly and if she ever got the chance to partner, she would be easily lifted. 

“Hello Magdalene,” Cho smiled politely, sitting next to her before she continued chatting with her other friends. Maggie smiled, though she secretly wished she could tell the girl off. 

Truth be told, Maggie was still insanely jealous of her. She was pretty, smart, rich and she had everything Cedric would look for in a girl. She would date Cedric while Maggie stood in the shadows. And she couldn’t even tell the girl to back off. Whenever Maggie tried to speak to anyone except Cedric, the words just didn’t come. She was silent.

From the other side of the hall, Cedric tried to engage himself in conversation with his mates, but he was catching every moment he could to glance at Magdalene Walsh. Her red curls were bouncing each time she moved. Her green eyes darted around, calmly observing. But her small, pink lips did not move. Once, when Cho Chang sat down, they moved into a smile. But the fierce emerald orbs did not match the pink lips. Her eyes conveyed a fiery emotion for a full minute before they calmed and Magdalene turned away from Cho. 

Cedric couldn’t quite decide how he felt about Cho. He knew very well that she was trying to pursue him. But he wasn’t sure if he wanted to accept her affections or not. True, she was a beautiful and perfectly respectable girl. And his father would be thrilled at the relationship, because Cho’s family was well known in society. But try as he might, Cedric couldn’t find a spark in himself when the two spoke. Now Magdalene, she was different. He’d never heard of her parents before. He’d hardly known of the girl until this year. His father would definitely not approve. But when they sat in comfortable silence, or exchanged a smile from across the room, Cedric was enthralled. He felt every movement and every unspoken emotion was clear to him. In her silence, she communicated the world to him. He felt as though, she was trying to tell him that she accepted him for whoever he was. 

That thought struck Cedric as rather odd. A sudden feeling of dread filled his stomach and he pushed his plate away, his mates oblivious of his sudden discomfort. What if someone knew what he did in the Room of Requirement, and they had told her. His secret might be safe with the girl who had only spoken one word, but would it be safe with the one that had told her? Unless, she was the one who knew. But he had never seen her around the Room of Requirement, nor could she know what he did inside it. For Cedric was sure he was absolutely alone in the room. Perhaps he was overreacting. 

Cedric and Magdalene’s thoughts were interrupted as Professor Albus Dumbledore took his place at the podium. He gave his traditional speech, except at the very end he made a special announcement. Hogwarts would be hosting two other Magical European schools for a Triwizard Tournament. The only words that stuck out to Maggie were: danger and death. But she watched as the boys surrounding her only friend punched him in the shoulder and whispered things in his ear. What Cedric heard was: eternal glory and pride. The two things that made his father happiness. Perhaps, if he followed his friends’ advice and joined the tournament, he could make his father proud enough to allow Cedric to attend a muggle university for music. Or even to be a musician. 

As Maggie watched the thoughts race past Cedric’s eyes—she had observed him long enough to read his facial expressions accurately—her own face twisted with worry. Cedric. Danger. Death. The words circled around her head, making her sick to stomach. Without a word, which was completely normal for Maggie, she darted from the hall and to the staircase.

Cedric excused himself to the boys dormitory in the Hufflepuff common room early when he saw the short redhead leave the Great Hall. He wanted to wish her a good night before she disappeared to Ravenclaw tower, and he had noticed a certain look of distress on the young girls face before she so quickly left. No one else turned to watch her go. The red curls were bouncing as Magdalene darted up the stairs.

“Magdalene!” he called, racing to catch up with her.

Maggie’s feet stopped, though her mind and stomach told her to keep running. She refused to turn around, for fear of being sick in front of him. But soon she felt a cool hand on her shoulder and the gentle brown eyes found her own as she turned to face him.

“Hey, do you feel alright? You seem kind of warm,” he murmured in a concerned tone. It was all she could do to turn away from him before she was sick all over the floor. What had brought that on? Had it really just been her worry for Cedric entering the tournament? A little intense Maggie. She scoffed at herself mentally. But she couldn’t force her mouth to form any real words for Cedric. He simply snaked his arm around her waist and led her in the direction of the Hospital Wing. He murmured comforting things, but did not judge her for completely humiliating herself in front of him. Her cheeks burned red from embarrassment, though Cedric mistook it for a fever and walked faster, picking her up completely to avoid making her even sicker.

He did not look down at the quiet girl in his arms, but a small part of him was beaming that he was the one to assist her when she needed someone. He puzzled at the attachment he seemed to have toward Magdalene. He had only just met the girl, and yet (though she seemed so uncomfortable around others) she acted as though they had known each other for many years. 

“Madame Pomfrey,” Cedric called as they entered the Hospital Wing. Maggie hopped down, sending him a reassuring glance and wondering why she’d let herself be brought to the infirmary in the first place.

“Mr. Diggory, what is this? Oh Ms. Walsh,” Madame Pomfrey came out from her office, looking frazzled as she easily recognized one of her favorite students. In the beginning of her time at Hogwarts, Maggie had been sent to Madame Pomfrey many times. Her teachers and other classmates worried that she could not speak and they tried to help with medicine. After the fifth time, Maggie had quietly confessed that she simply did not know what to say. She was a quiet girl who didn’t cause problems or waste resources. She had seen Madame Pomfrey many times after that, for reoccurring dancer injuries and she had chosen to create a carefully guarded bond with the older woman. 

Madame Pomfrey was not a woman of favorites. She usually only saw sick or injured children who sometimes gave their thanks and sometimes did not. But Magdalene Walsh, or Maggie as she secretly called herself, was not one of those children. She came when she needed something simple, like an icing charm or a bone strengthening potion. As she grew older, she became capable of performing these things herself, but she always came to the Hospital Wing. When she came, she did not demand attention right away or even cause much fuss. She simply waited until Madame Pomfrey was not busy and then she would sit in a corner, and pleasantly ask Madame how her day had been. Not many people stopped to ask Poppy how she was anymore. But little Maggie Walsh did. It was something Poppy had always, and would always appreciate. Maggie shared parts of herself with Madame Pomfrey that she had shared with no one else. And she was genuinely interested in what Madame Pomfrey shared with her. So Poppy knew that she must keep Maggie’s ability to talk, to herself. If the child wanted to include someone in her words, she would. 

That is why, when Cedric Diggory (whom she only ever saw for Quidditch injuries) brought the little redhead in, Poppy Pomfrey smiled a mischievous smile. She saw the sparkle in Maggie’s eye and the warmth in Cedric’s smile. She nodded and gestured to a bed. 

“Well, well Maggie,” she chuckled. “Sick? Shins? Achilles Tendons? Toes?” she guessed.

“Sick, all over the stairs,” Cedric said in hushed tone. Though the use of the nickname had not slipped his notice. 

“Ah, this should do it then,” Madame Pomfrey left and in just a few minutes, came back with a clear potion. Maggie sighed. Though she enjoyed the nurse’s presence, she couldn’t stand medicine. But she drank it gratefully and watched as Madame Pomfrey left with a satisfied nod and a wink in Maggie’s direction. 

“Thank you,” she whispered to Cedric. 

“Nothing you wouldn’t do for me,” Cedric grinned. “So, do you prefer being called Magdalene? Or Maggie?” he tried to strike up a conversation with the girl of so few words.

“Maggie,” she confirmed with a look that said ‘Magdalene’ was not a name she enjoyed. 

“It was nice seeing you Maggie, I’ll get in trouble if I stay around though so I hope you feel better,” he stood, deciding not to push their encounters too far, fearing she would push away.

Maggie nodded, unwilling to find more words.

“I hope we have classes together!”

Maggie hoped so too. She also hoped she would have the courage to leave her secret spot behind the painting. 

“Ms. Magdalene Walsh,” Madame Pomfrey reappeared and took a spot in a chair next to the bed Maggie sat on. “Someone has been awfully talkative,” she tapped the teenager on the nose.

“Poppy,” Maggie smiled. It was a closely guarded secret that Maggie was allowed to call Madame Pomfrey by her first name. Almost as closely guarded that Madame Pomfrey was allowed to exchange words with Maggie. “He is wonderful,” she said simply.

“So I see,” Poppy’s eyebrows raised as she observed the lovestruck girl. She had always suspected that Maggie had an infatuation with young Cedric. Whenever the two had been in the hospital wing at the same time (surprisingly, more often than you’d think), she seemed to daze off and forget the conversation she had been having. 

“He speaks to me as though I’m no different than anyone else,” Maggie confessed.

“You aren’t,” Poppy said firmly.

“But I am, everyone calls me ‘the mute’” she sighed in reply.

“And that, is by your own choice. Because your dancing speaks louder than any one word,” though Poppy had never seen the child dance, she had seen the sparkle in her eyes whenever she talked about it. And she had treated every injury that a dancer could possibly get. Some had been more serious than others and she worried about Maggie, but she soon realized that her worries were wasted. Maggie did not stop dancing for any pain. She continued to dance through any injury, even when told to rest. 

That determination and passion reminded Poppy of a time when she was younger, and no matter how much her mother begged her to go out and play with other children, she could not leave her younger siblings. She cared for them when they were sick or crying. And if none of her siblings were hurt, than here dolls were. They needed constant care. Even when Poppy Pomfrey was lying in bed with an atrocious cold, she was secretly caring for her pet rabbit, who also had a bit of a runny nose.

Madame Pomfrey enjoyed the warmth she felt when she helped someone else feel better. It healed her to heal others. She felt the same happiness when helping that Maggie felt when dancing. 

“Now, why were you really sick?” Poppy eyed the girl suspiciously as she yawned.

“I don’t know, really. I was listening to Professor Dumbledore’s words and then I saw Cedric and I got so worried that he would join that blasted tournament and that he would be hurt or…killed,” she gulped, real fear in her eyes.

“Such feelings for a boy you hardly know are dangerous, Magdalene,” Poppy warned in a low voice.

“But I know him so well, Poppy! He just doesn’t know that,” Maggie pleaded for acceptance from the one person at Hogwarts she fully trusted. Poppy sighed with a knowing smile.

“Oh Maggie, one day you will wake up and realize how silly you are being and how simple it is to talk to others,” she patted the girls head before sending her off to bed in her common room.

Maggie mulled through her jumbled thoughts as she climbed the tower to the Ravenclaw common room, sending a tired smile to the ghost of Ravenclaw tower, Rowena Ravenclaw’s daughter, who rarely ever spoke or appeared to anyone except a few choice Ravenclaws. She answered the new riddle easily and trudged up the seven flights of stairs before joining the chatting and hyper girls of her class.

“Magdalene! Did you hear? Victor Krum is coming to the Tournament!” gushed one of Cho’s friends, Amy. Maggie nodded quietly and sat on her bed, participating in the conversation with silent nods and smiles. The girls chatted into the early hours of the morning before they decided it was time to sleep and crawled into their four poster beds.

But sleep did not come to Maggie. Her mind was racing, not with the thought of being sick or the thrill of Victor Krum, but with the pure joy and hope that she could actually be friends with Cedric Diggory.

Author’s Note: a short chapter, I know. But I think it has a proper ending. The next chapter will contain a time lapse of a few weeks to get the Cedric/Maggie thing really moving. Hope you are enjoying it 


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